SaaS Origin Stories

Episode Summary:In this episode of SaaS Origin Stories, Phil is joined by Carl Carell, Co-Founder of GetAccept, a digital sales room empowering revenue teams to increase their win rates by engaging and understanding buyers. Previously, Carl was also the Co-Founder and Managing Director of Adsensus Denmark Aps, and was a Sales Manager AtlasTM SRL.They have an insightful discussion about just how educated buyers are now compared to years ago; why you need to be careful about who you choose to run a business with; the importance of learning through failure; and the impact of having a healthy working culture. They also get into why, as a startup, you need to be able to execute your ideas quickly, but also why you shouldn’t overwork yourself.Guest at a Glance:Name: Carl CarellAbout Ran: Carl Carell is the Co-Founder of GetAccept, a digital sales room empowering revenue teams to increase their win rates by engaging and understanding buyers. Previously, Carl was also the Co-Founder and Managing Director of Adsensus Denmark Aps, and was a Sales Manager AtlasTM SRL.One of his colleagues, Kevin Montano, had this to say about him: “It is rare to possess as much charisma and emotional intelligence as Carl. I was lucky enough to learn from him during my time with the company he founded, GetAccept.”Carl on LinkedInCarl on TwitterGetAccept on LinkedInGetAccept’s WebsiteTopics we cover:How GetAccept helps create fantastic opportunities for businessesCarl’s advice for choosing business partnersThe hardships of building a SaaS businessLearning curves in starting a businessThe importance of retaining a healthy business cultureMake sure you execute your ideasThe process of funding your businessHealth is wealth - don’t overwork yourself!Key Takeaways:Buyers Are Significantly More Educated Nowadays Being a sales rep in this day-and-age can be a tricky business. Afterall, with so much accessibility to a wide range of information (and also misinformation) on the internet, customers are far more educated on certain topics and, as a result, are more weary when it comes to listening to sales reps. Carl explains that, at GetAccept, they want to create a better experience for both sales reps and buyers, making it smoother and having a much clearer understanding of each other. “So, how do we create a journey that is not just helping sales reps sell better, but also helping buyers have a better experience and understand that vendor in a better way? That's what got GetAccept to be where we are today. That is essentially the problem that we think about; I fall asleep thinking about our product and I wake up [still] thinking about it, every single day.”Be Careful Who You Choose to Start Your Business WithCarl’s business background has certainly been a rich and busy one, but one piece of advice he has for anyone looking to start a business, whether that be in SaaS or another respectful industry, is that you shouldn’t just start a business with anyone. Just because someone is a good friend, it doesn’t mean they’ll be a good business partner. It’s an easy mistake to make, one filled with so much excitement and enthusiasm for a business idea that it can be hard to remember the importance of how well you and your partner will mesh and work together in the long run. “We started a business in college [...] That was an interesting journey, it taught me a lot about how you should think around your business. You should just start a business with whoever’s around, you should really think about the co-founders you choose and what their ambitions are.”To Get to Where You Want, You Have to Try and FailSaaS is notoriously difficult to build a business in, and just like many of host Phil’s guests, Carl has started multiple businesses before hitting the jackpot with GetAccept. There’s a danger with the way the media shows off many entrepreneurs in recent times, portraying them as figures who can do no wrong and are unquestioned geniuses, but Carl warns us not to listen to them that much, as almost every entrepreneur he knows has had to try and fail before making something great. It’s the dream of many SaaS entrepreneurs to move to Silicon Valley and smash it out of the park, but it’s important to remember: it won’t always be that easy.The Importance of Culture in BusinessCarl acknowledges that, when he first started in SaaS, there was a certain toxicity to the culture - tight deadlines, short tempers, inflated egos - but now, it has calmed down a lot. It’s so vitally important that your business creates a culture that people want to be a part of; culture is what makes people want to come back to the office and work with others, it creates a sense of belonging that is absolutely needed for any one in any sort of environment. “If you hire really fantastic people and have that as a strategy, you also have to have a strategy to retain that talent and to keep them happy.”How Quickly You Can Execute Your Ideas as a Startup is VitalWhen you first create your business, meeting deadlines and executing your ideas is paramount, because you still have to prove yourself. This can lead to long hours and hard work which will require a strong work ethic, resilience, and determination. It’s important, then, to try and stay optimistic, and keep in mind that Rome wasn’t built in a day.Eventually, all of your hard work will pay off, it’s just a matter of time.

In this episode of SaaS Origin Stories, Brendon Metcalf, CEO of Place, joins host Phil Alves to discuss a wide range of topics ranging from funding strategies, creating a product-market fit, and how to run a SaaS startup when 80% of your business comes from one client. Brandon Metcalf is an accomplished entrepreneur with a strong track record in building and leading successful companies. A graduate of Harvard Business School, Brandon also hosts the popular Cash & Burn podcast. As the CEO of Place, a financial analytics stack for Salesforce, he leads the company’s growth strategies. Guest at a Glance:Name: Brendon MetcalfWhat he Does: Brendon Metcalf is a repeat founder and CEO of Place, a Salesforce stack focused on managing sales-to-cash workflows. With his expertise in the software industry, particularly in the realm of Salesforce, he has a wealth of experience in creating, scaling, and managing global businesses.  Brandon on LinkedInPlace on LinkedInBrendon’s Book Recommendation The Hard Things About Hard Things by Ben HorowitzTopics we cover:The quality of your leadership team makes a difference when seeking fundingLessons from repeat foundingThe first customer and early growth strategiesLeveraging outbound learnings to sharpen the product-market fitStrategies when 80% of the revenue pipeline is one customerHighlights:Quality of Leadership Counts When Seeking FundingA good leadership team inspires confidence for investors who are looking for answers to three questions: Does the idea solve a real-world problem? What is the size of the potential market? Do you inspire confidence? A high-quality leadership team with successful exits behind them inspires confidence and opens the doors to funding more easily.  “Three things count when it comes to seeking funding from investors, who do you know, how do you connect with investors, and what is the confidence you deliver”.Lessons from Repeat FoundingBrandon founded Place after a successful exit from his previous startup. He shares some insights and learnings that helped him in founding Place. The biggest lesson he learned from his previous startup was the ability to separate work and personal life and ensure that he devotes sufficient time to his personal relationships. Brandon says he starts early, around five-thirty in the morning, but you won’t find him working after 6 PM on a weekday. “I ensure that I get downtime with family and friends after six o’clock every day”.The First Customer and Early Growth StrategiesBrandon explains how they lucked out as their first customer was the company the sales head was working for previously. Early growth came through inbound and outbound marketing to companies in the B2B SaaS space who were also clients of Salesforce. The company closed the loop on customer feedback to tweak the product and accelerate conversions.“We actively sought feedback to identify specific use case issues faced by the core of daily users of Salesforce”. Sharpening the Product Market Fit with Feedback From Outbound MarketingBrandon shares how, initially, the efforts from outbound marketing were subpar. Users who opted for the free trial were not converting after the trial period. The Nos far outnumbered the Yeses. To resolve this, the sales team contacted every lead that did not convert to identify why they chose not to subscribe to the service. Based on the feedback, the company identified additional functionalities that the customers were seeking. These were then added to the product for a better product-market fit.  “We felt something had shifted; that was a better product-market fit”.Strategies When 80% of Your Business Comes From One clientWhen the bulk of your business comes from one client, the best practice is to split your workflow and teams into two parts. One team across the workflow focuses on the large client to give them customized and personalized service. Then there is a second team to handle the other customers. Having a single team for the two customer personas runs the risk of the smaller clients getting average service since the internal resources across verticals will be focused on the large client. “One of our customers is a twenty-four billion dollar client who uses 30,000 licenses globally; putting together the other customers account for 3,000 licenses. We had to have two teams”. 

In this episode of SaaS Origin Stories, Phil speaks with Geoff Roberts, Co-Founder of Outseta, the only all-in-one platform that integrates subscription billing, email marketing, support, CRM, and reporting tools which reduces costs, maintenance, and helps SaaS startups get off the ground faster. He is also the founder of SaaS Growth Strategy, and was previously the Vice President of Marketing at Roambi.They discuss just how ruthless prioritization within your company can be, the revolutionary, problem solving methodology of Outseta, why you don’t need to know everything about SaaS in order to be successful, and the importance of sharing your entrepreneurial journey.Guest at a Glance:Name: Geoff RobertsAbout Geoff: Geoff is the Co-Founder of Outseta, the only all-in-one platform that integrates subscription billing, email marketing, CRM and more which reduces costs and maintenance. It was designed to help SaaS startups get off the ground faster. He is also the founder of SaaS Growth Strategy and was previously the Vice President of Marketing at Roambi.Geoff on LinkedInGeoff’s TwitterOutseta on LinkedInOutseta’s WebsiteTopics we cover:The problem-solving methodology of OutsetaWhy you know need to know absolutely everything about SaaSThe helpfulness of sharing your entrepreneurial journeyHow ruthless prioritisation within a business can beThe difficulty of having to face the hard truths about your businessWhen your product isn’t quite as good as you think it is yetKey Takeaways:The Problem-Solving Methodology of OutsetaIt is said that, in order to build a successful business, you need to create something which either solves a problem/fulfils a need or entertains an audience. In creating Outseta, Geoff was able to solve a hefty amount of business’ problems.All SaaS or membership businesses need the same fundamental technological tools: a billing system, a CRM for prospecting customer data, and marketing tools to communicate with customers. Outseta is the only company bringing all of these tools together under one platform. Geoff compares it to the way Shopify works for e-commerce, and just like a lot of the world’s best ideas, Outseta was born out of personal experience and agitation towards the complexities of building a company which needed all of these tools. You Don’t Need to Know Everything About SaaS to be SuccessfulDespite developing such an ingenious SaaS platform, Geoff reveals that he didn’t create Outseta due to any real attachment to SaaS, rather it was out of his love for startups and their evolution. He is also responsible for almost everything at Outseta apart from developing the tools themselves: sales, support, marketing, and internal operations. But how? He claims that his writing degree was probably one of the most beneficial things to happen to him. And yet, despite not having any inherent connection to the SaaS industry, he has been able to make waves and offer a revolutionary, groundbreaking platform for any startup who needs it!Share Your Entrepreneurial Journey into SaaSGeoff recommends that, when starting your SaaS business, share your entrepreneurial journey with the world. It can be incredibly beneficial to show off to everyone how much you’ve grown. This can develop a sense of trust between yourself and potential new clients and customers. Not only that, but it is naturally interesting to see how a business grows over time. It’s like watching evolution in real time.“This is not something I expected going in, but a huge part of our customer acquisition strategy is simply sharing our own entrepreneurial journey. I know that a lot of other founders do that; we’re certainly not the first company to do so, but I think it actually worked for us as an acquisition strategy because we sell our product to other founders. Just by sharing our own journey, founders tend to be interested in that kind of stuff.”The Ruthlessness of Prioritization With the sheer quantity of tools that Outseta uses, they had to figure out which aspects to prioritize amidst its creation. In order to do this, they had to look at what it was that all subscription and membership SaaS services use and where they would focus their energies.When beginning your startup, you will have to ruthlessly prioritize your work. Some ideas simply won’t make the cut or, at the very least, won’t get as much attention as others. But this is okay, just make sure you are prioritizing the right things.Once a Developer, Always a DeveloperGeoff acknowledges that for the first few years of Outseta’s existence, they were trying to sell to too much of a niche audience. Instead of trying to sell to business founders, they were selling to founders who were also developers. So, when the time came to pitch to them, they would often just make the tools themselves. This isn’t logical, but it is rational, and both parties involved know this; once you’re a developer, you can’t shed that programmed, coded skin.Know who you’re pitching to—a niche audience is good, vital even, but if it’s too niche then you may run into some problems.“The hard truth was we were trying to change the predominant behavior of developers. I would have a lot of conversations with developers where I would say ‘It’s not the best use of your time to spend all of this time integrating these tools. Why don’t you focus your time on building your product rather than building all these tools.’ And they would nod and say, ‘That makes a completely logical sense,’ and then they would go and build it anyway. It’s just what they’re accustomed to, even if it didn’t make the most logical sense.”Sometimes, the Product Just Isn’t Good Enough YetYou could have the best ever idea for a product, but you need to be able to acknowledge that you won’t always get it to perfection right away. It’ll take time, and there may even be moments when you think it’s over, but it doesn’t mean it is. Sometimes, the best thing you can do is face the hard truth and think about the way you can improve and be better in order to grow.

Episode Summary:In this episode of SaaS Origin Stories, Amit Mishra, Founder and CEO of iMocha, joins host Phil Alves. iMocha (formerly Interview Mocha) is the world's largest skills assessment solution API platform, helping organizations build winning teams and empowering them to thoroughly assess employees as well as candidates.Amit is the Founder and CEO of iMocha and was previously the Director of Business Development at Ecotech IT Solutions. He is also the Founder and the former CEO of Radix Business Models. He shares how he came up with the idea for iMocha, why you should offer as much value as possible to your customers, and why you should utilize time at the beginning of your business. He also delves into the necessity of connecting with your customers face-to-face, even if you’re just a SaaS business.Guest at a Glance:Name: Amit MishraWhat he does: Amit is the Founder and CEO of iMocha, the world's largest skills assessment solution API platform. He has also been the Director of Business Development at Ecotech IT Solution. He is the Founder and the former CEO of Radix Business Models.Amit on LinkedIniMocha on LinkedInTopics we cover:The origins of iMochaWhy you should go with the customers who bring the most valueThe struggles of trying to focus on too many SaaS problemsConnect with your customers face-to-faceDon’t waste time simply waiting for funding for your SaaS startupHighlights:How and Why iMocha came to beOne of the biggest problems Amit found when hiring and interviewing people for his own company was the lack of interview skills and charisma. Because of this, he decided to come up (while drinking a mocha in a coffee shop) with the idea of building a SaaS company that would help entry-level candidates give the best interviews they possibly can."We were having a mocha coffee in a local coffee shop in India, so we decided to call it Interview Mocha (iMocha). Once we dug deeper into it, we realized it’s not just an interview problem, but it’s a problem with skills. When we onboarded customers, we realized skills were the biggest problem we needed to solve.’Go with the Customers Who Bring the Most ValueAmit explains that, when getting customers for their service, they tried to make sure they were providing them the best value and were offering the best they could. This involved boosting SEO and making sure the best channels were being utilized for it! It’s important to look into who your customers are and figure out why some are sticking around and why some are leaving. This is a great way to figure out your weaknesses and strengths.Connect With Your CustomersEven if you have a SaaS business which rarely interacts with customers, go the extra mile and connect with them anyway! As great as SaaS channels are, customers will always warm up to a business faster if they speak with an actual person; nothing beats the human touch, and your customers will greatly appreciate the gesture!‘We thought that SaaS was a mechanism where you create something, you create a website and people will come and put their credit card in, and you do not talk to them. The good thing that we did was, we started not only to sell but once a customer became a customer, we connected with them on Zoom or Skype calls, asking them about their problems and how we were helping them. The output and insights that we got were phenomenal.’Don’t Waste Time, and Take Risks!Amit admits that, during the pandemic, he realized that a mistake he made at the beginning of iMocha was taking too much time to raise money. It is advisable, then, that when you start your business, don’t waste time missing out on opportunities, especially if they require a certain level of risk. Be relentless and take risks! You never know what the future holds, so it’s best to be prepared for anything!

Episode Summary:In this episode of SaaS Origin Stories, Mark Stouse, Chairman and CEO of Proof, joins host Phil Alves. Proof offers an analytic tool used by sales, revenue, and analytics teams. The company is a five-year-old SaaS startup with a revenue pipeline of over four and a half million.Mark is a former CCO and CMO at multi-billion dollar enterprises like Honeywell and HP. He shares his perspective of an older founder and walks us through his journey from a unique funding concept to market fit, positioning, and pricing. Along the way, he shares his insights on leadership traits. Guest at a Glance:Name: Mark StouseWhat he does: Mark is the Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Proof, a SaaS company that offers an analytic tool used by sales, revenue, and analytics teams. He has been a CCO and CMO at multi-billion dollar enterprises like Honeywell and HP.Mark on LinkedInProof on LinkedInMark’s Book Recommendation Misbehavior of MarketsTopics we cover:Things they don’t teach you about leadershipA unique funding modelYou have way less than a one percent chance of founding a unicornA unique way of attracting customersKnow these facts before embarking on your startup journeyHighlights:Everything They Don’t Teach, but You Should Know About LeadershipIt all starts with a shift in mindset. Trying to be indispensable at work is akin to slavery. They’ll never promote you if you're indispensable, and you’ll be stuck in a box. Leaders build teams that are collectively smarter than the leader, and sooner or later, the leader becomes dispensable—time to move on to bigger challenges. You need to be a leader before becoming a founder.“As a leader, it’s my job to ask the best questions and not be the smartest person in the room”. Discovering Family Office Funding for a SaaS StartupMark made a conscious decision to avoid venture funding as VC expectations and benchmarks distort the nurturing phase of startups. Mark instead tapped into family office funding, a network of privately held companies that do wealth and asset management for high net-worth individuals. The family office is a tightly knit community, and the companies in a given niche talk to each other. Hence, if you can get one of them on board and have a successful proof of concept, the other family offices will knock on your door.  “We went with family offices that were in the software space and tied up funding rounds linked to performance gateways”.Set Realistic Goals; You’re not Founding a Unicorn.Mark cautions founders, especially young founders, from setting unrealistic goals for their startups. Goals and performance gateways need to be realistic because no matter how unique and revolutionary your idea is, it’s a brutal market out there. Also, there’s a high chance that someone bigger than you and who has been around for longer is doing the same thing, maybe in just a slightly different way. “It’s great if you build a unicorn and sell it for a billion dollars, just know that the real-world chances of that happening are way less than one percent”.A Unique Strategy for Building Trust and Attracting CustomersAt Proof, Mark uses conventional digital tools like ABM to achieve the marketing goal of converting leads into sales. However, much of his time to date is still devoted to posting on LinkedIn. He follows relevant conversations and offers free tips and advice. This helps build trust among his audience, and he counts on the audience to spread the word and create awareness. It also makes the audience more likely to convert when Mark recommends Proof as a solution. Mark is also a fan of the marketing mix modelling.“I participate below a relevant post and offer help to people; I’m like a free consultant. It helps build trust with the audience”.  One Person' Hindsight Is Another's ForesightKnow that being an entrepreneur will teach you things you can’t learn anywhere else. Get ready to devote almost every waking moment to building and thinking about your SaaS. Get prepared to fail in front of an audience and know how to handle those situations. Be ready to pivot if your proof of concept proves that there are no takers for your exact idea but there is a crying need for something slightly different. Another must-have is the ability to talk in your audience’s language. If you're qualifying your SaaS product in technical terms to a CMO, you will not make the sale. Instead, qualify your product in impact on marketing goals.   “We talk about product-market fit, but the real challenge is to qualify and sell your product in a language your audience understands”.

Episode Summary:In this episode of SaaS Origin Stories, Dan Martell, Founder, and CEO of SaaS Academy, joins host Phil Alves. SaaS Academy is the number one coaching program for SaaS founders. Dan has over twenty-two years of experience in the SaaS space as a serial entrepreneur with three successful seven-figure exits. Dan shares his insights on critical but rarely mentioned skills that SaaS founders need in their toolkits before building their SaaS. He also unpacks the playbook for implementing successful exits and how each exit paves the way for your next and bigger venture. Dan is also the author of the best-selling guide for entrepreneurs, Buy Back Your Time. Guest at a Glance:Name: Dan MartellWhat He Does: Dan mentors SaaS founders at his company, SaaS Academy. He equips founders with the foresight to capture demand for the best product-market fit and implement successful exit strategies. Dan on LinkedInSaaS Academy WebsiteDan’s Book Buy Back Your TimeTopics we cover:Upscale your knowledge base by readingLearn to insert yourself in customer conversationsExit strategy 101, every exit is a doorway to a new ventureThe first ‘oh shoot’ momentKey Takeaways:Expand Your Horizons by Reading BooksEvery SaaS startup has two sides: a technical and a business side. Most SaaS founders come from a technical background and have the first one covered. The technical side is essential for the design and proofing stage, but once your SaaS hits the market, your success pivots around your business skills. Every SaaS founder needs technical skills and business nous in their toolkit.Books like Purple Cow by Seth Godin and Start With Why by Simon Sinek are must-reads. Reading books like Atomic Habits and The Power of Positive Thinking is essential to building your core strengths. Make it a habit to read at least ten pages a day.“Books are so powerful, and that’s how I learn the things that I know today to run my business”. Timing Your Customer Conversations Delivers Product-Market FitDan shares a story about a salesperson for an office supplies company who, for fifteen years, consistently outperformed his peers by a wide margin. His modus operandi was simple; he would wait outside the competitor's warehouse and follow the delivery trucks as they made their monthly deliveries. He noted the delivery addresses, and next month, a week before the competitor’s delivery, he would contact the company and offer his office supplies. Learn to insert yourself in customer conversations when your customer is problem-aware. You can have the coolest software, but if you pitch it to a customer who is unaware of the problem, you’re not going to make a sale. If your sales cycles are consistently at sixteen to twenty-four months, chances are you’re talking to customers who don’t have a problem. Timing your customer conversations is critical for creating product-market fit. “The moment our target clients realized they had a problem, we became the most obvious and responsive solution”. Every Exit Builds Your Net Worth and Opens Doors for a New VentureLet’s address two universal truths. Most successful startup founders have an endless chain of ideas. And all profitable startups will eventually hit an inflection point and come up against someone larger who has been doing it for longer. Don’t let your passion blind you; learn to cash in if you get a good offer. The ability to let go and exit, and knowing when to do it, is a critical skill in your toolkit. Every successful exit teaches you valuable lessons on the technical and business side, and investors love entrepreneurs with proven exits. On all three fronts, a successful exit eases your segue to your next venture.A seven-figure exit when you own 80 percent of your company puts more money in your pocket than an eight-figure exit down the line when you only own five percent of the company. With every exit, maintain the discipline to invest half of what you get while keeping the other half as your seed capital for the next venture.“In the valley, if you’re a founder with a successful exit behind you, investors will move their calendars around to meet with you”. The First ‘Oh Shoot’ Moment – Be Open to Pivoting Post LaunchDan’s first ‘oh shoot’ moment came with his third startup, Clarity.fm. The SaaS solution pivoted around monetizing the time spent by an influencer while talking to followers seeking advice. The app used Facebook connect to reach the follower, and the call was placed through an 800 number, and the follower was billed via Stripe at the end of the call.The unique concept generated much interest among the investors, and Dan was able to tie up just under two million dollars in thirty days. The problem arose at the proof of concept stage, where it was discovered that the followers wanted to talk to the influencer but were unwilling to pay for their time. This is when Dan pivoted on the target audience and started focusing on investors who would pay high dollars for advice on their planned investments.“We pivoted out of my passion area and targeted investors who were willing to pay four to five thousand dollars for an hour with someone who could provide insights on their planned investments”.

Episode Summary:In this episode of SaaS Origin Stories, Phil speaks with Chris Frantz, Co-Founder and CEO of Loops, a company that helps SaaS businesses send beautiful email newsletters and one-off campaigns in a simple, easy-to-use interface. Before this, he was a founder at Snazzy AI (now Unbounce) and the Director of Digital Strategy at Curiosity Stream.They discuss the importance of taste and curation in a SaaS business model; why simplicity is key for the user’s experience; the difference between platforms and tools; and why you should have fun with what you do before venturing into something big and serious. He also discusses why his creative marketing strategy has been so successful.Guest at a Glance:Name: Chris FrantzAbout Chris: Chris is the Co-Founder and CEO of Loops, a company that helps SaaS businesses send beautiful email newsletters and one-off campaigns in a simple, easy-to-use interface. He believes simplicity is key to the user’s experience.Chris on LinkedInChris’ WebsiteLoops on LinkedInTopics we cover:The efficiency of LoopsThe importance of polish, taste, and curationSimplicity for the user is the keyThe difference between platforms and toolsThink creatively with your MarketingHave fun building and programming firstCan publicly sharing your process help?Key Takeaways:The Efficiency of Loops and Why Simplicity is KeyOften, it can be difficult to send a bulk of email newsletters and campaigns to a variety of different people, but thanks to Loops, that has been made way easier. Chris drew from his own experiences using slow and antiquated software to come up with a solution.When starting Loops, he knew he wanted it to be as simple as possible. It only takes five clicks to send a marketing email from them, whereas their competitor, Mailchimp, takes twenty-two clicks. Keep it simple; customers respond to simplicity positively and will undoubtedly come back!Importance of Polish, Taste, and Curation When building a business, one of the most important aspects is making sure the brand matches your standards of taste and curation - it has to be in line with what you care about. If you get stuck working on something you don’t have any enthusiasm for, you may end up with a messy, unfinished product, or worse, your mental health will suffer.Difference Between Platforms and Tools A later-stage SaaS company often describes itself as a platform, whereas an earlier-stage company describes itself as a tool. When a company transitions from one to the other, it can spin up other product categories and expand itself. The trick is not to jump the shark too quickly and go at a steady pace.“At a later stage SaaS company, they call it a platform; in an earlier stage company, they call it a tool. When a company becomes a platform after becoming a tool, it basically means they can spin up other product categories”.Think Creatively with Your Marketing According to Chris, Loops have no plans to start any traditional marketing techniques yet. Instead, they’ve been staying creative with their marketing: making boxes of cereal for first users and letting startups display their messages on billboards. This is the reason they stand out amongst the others; they’re creative.Chris explains how plenty of people are happy to share their building process online with others, and this is a huge part of why they were so successful. Chris, however, points out that he didn’t feel comfortable doing this and would rather remain private. It’s perfectly okay for others to do this, it doesn’t mean you won’t be successful. We all have our different methods.

Episode Summary:In this episode of SaaS Origin Stories, Ajay Goel, Founder of GMass, joins host Phil Alves. Ajay, a twenty-four-year veteran in the SaaS space and a serial entrepreneur, shares his insights on building and scaling a SaaS business in the outbound email space.His seven-year-old company was founded on an investment of $10,000 and has been scaled on internal accruals without investor participation. Ajay shares his insights on how low-cost and high-impact business strategies enable GMass to compete with majors like MailChimp in the email outreach space.Guest at a Glance:Name: Ajay GoelWhat He Does: Ajay is the Founder of GMass, a SaaS stack in the email outreach space.Connect With Ajay on LinkedInConnect With Ajay on TwitterTopics we cover:Ignore the media hype; most SaaS startups are bootstrappedMinimize expenses during the development stageLaunch on established platforms to minimize marketing expenseOutbound marketing to scale your startupGet the pricing right the first timeKey Takeaways:Ignore Media Hype on Big-Ticket Funding Startups with big-ticket funding are outliers and not the norm; ignore the media hype surrounding these startups. Most sustainable SaaS companies have been bootstrapped to different degrees. These companies fly under the radar and don’t get highlighted. Funding is cyclical.In a growth environment, the focus is on spending for growth. In an economic downturn stage, like our current environment, the emphasis is on profitability, with money selectively chasing profitable companies. “Basically, bootstrapped and organically grown companies are not sexy enough to make the headlines”Keep Your Startup Costs LowThe bulk of pre-launch spending is on product development. Hence, it is essential for the founders to be able to code, develop, and test the proof of concept (POC) product with minimal expenses for outsourced coding. Once your POC is validated, don’t get tempted to throw money at marketing; instead, focus on low-cost, high-yield launch strategies. “ It wasn’t a big concern to generate enough money to cover expenses because my expenses were super low”Leverage Established Platforms Like Google and Apple StoreAnother way to keep initial marketing costs low is to offer your product as a plug-in that works with established platforms like Chrome. Leverage the platform traffic to build your sales. A word of caution here – platforms have strict approval processes to weed out spammers and malware, but for the benefits you get, it’s worth the effort. Once you establish a revenue stream, you can then migrate to your website. The downside of staying exclusive to platforms is that the platform can shut you down at any time, which is an unacceptable risk. “So now I was getting referrals from just visibility on the Chrome store”Outbound Marketing is Alive and KickingAjay shares his insights on the value of outbound marketing for scaling a startup. He used virtual assistants to scrape reviews of his competitors on the Chrome store to make a mailing list for his outreach. He then pitched his product and USP to this audience and acquired conversions.Email is still a viable sales channel in the SaaS space. While many old-school marketers have moved away from email, lots of success stories are built around outbound cold emails. The key to cold email campaigns is to avoid using your business domain to prevent it from getting blacklisted. “Six months into my launch, I started to dig into the cat-and-mouse game of avoiding spam filters and preventing the domain from getting blacklisted”Get Your Pricing Right The First TimeMost founders are conservative when it comes to pricing their products. They will price their products at a third or one-fourth of what the market leaders are charging to try and go after volumes. This approach needs to be corrected. Not only are you leaving money on the table, but you’re also sowing seeds of doubt in the customer's mind; the customer thinks they’ll get what they pay for.Make sure you read up on different pricing strategies and identify the one that works best for your business. “I read everything online on pricing and spoke to a couple of pricing consultants. There are companies that specialize in pricing consulting for SaaS companies. Speak to them”

Episode Summary:In this episode of SaaS Origin Stories, Spencer Barclay, Founder and CEO of Savology,  joins host Phil Alves to share a founder’s insight on the roadmap for building a successful SaaS business. Spencer’s insights are best practices across different business phases, from ideation and funding to market validation of the MVP and how to scale. He also offers insights on hiring the right people and some pitfalls to avoid while recruiting talent.Guest at a Glance:Name: Spencer BarclayWhat He Does: Spencer is the founder of Savology, a SaaS startup providing financial planning and financial wellness solutions to consumers through a B2B gateway of employers and financial consultants.Connect with Spencer on LinkedInTopics we cover:Limiting your scope with a stair-step approachInvest in discovery and proof of conceptFocus on monetizing with a minimum viable productTalent acquisition is keyThree tips to keep front and center on your SaaS journeyKey Takeaways:Limit the Initial Project Scope to Delivering a Minimum Viable ProductYour initial focus should hinge on delivering an MVP and getting market validation. Don’t set out with the objective of building the final product; instead, build the project scope step-by-step, just like you’d climb a stairway. This ensures that you’ll minimize the initial investment and monetize your product faster. Funding becomes simpler for a market-validated product. If your product is gaining traction, but the growth could be faster with a different product, give due thought to an exit. Put some money in your pocket to start again and become what investors love, a successful serial entrepreneur. “There are some people that are successful going straight for the big scope, but I think it decreases the probability of success while adding a lot of risk along the way”.Invest in Discovery and Proof of ConceptSpend time in discovery to identify the problem you’re looking to resolve and the solution the customers are looking for. Invest time and resources in conducting market research, interviews, and focus group studies. Be ready to pivot if the core issue and solution desired by the customer varies from your initial scope. The next step is to validate your discovery with a proof of concept, which should precede your MVP launch. This is critical for tech and SaaS startups. Through all this, stay flexible and ready for change. Fall in love with the problem and not the solution. The solution is what the customers want. “I wouldn’t have succeeded with the MVP if I hadn’t done the proof of concept. We would have wound up building the wrong product”. The Real Learning Starts Once you Launch Your MVPGetting the product in the hands of your customers is when real learning starts. The feedback you get helps you to tweak and modify your product for higher adoption. Feedback is also an opportunity to evaluate your business model and see if any changes are required. This is also the time to look at a pre-seed round of funding. Keep your pitch deck updated with every new learning, so you’re ready to engage with your investors. “The big pivot was to move from a D2C to B2B space. We needed to change our GTM strategy on the fly and pivot to a B2B strategy”. Hire Talent that Can Grow with Your BusinessDon’t hire talent based on personality; instead, hire based on skills that will help fill your company's need gap. Instead of hiring a VP of marketing outright, hire a senior marketing manager with the skills to fill your gap today and the talent to grow into the VP role in a couple of years. Don’t be tempted into hiring overqualified talent. Chances are you’ll lose them in a couple of months once they find another role at double or more of what you can pay. “We know that we need to get the right people on the ship. Know that it’s very difficult to find the right people, but every time you get it right, it accelerates the growth of the company”. One Person’s Hindsight is Another's ForesightSpencer shares his top three hindsight learnings while setting up and scaling his SaaS business. First, be ready to pivot. Statistics prove that agile startups that pivot once or twice in the early stages are more likely to succeed. Pivot based on your learnings. Lesson two is to monetize as soon as possible. Validate your proof of concept and start monetizing your MVP while you continue to build your product. Find the distribution channels that get your product to your audience most efficiently.Number three is don’t get caught up in the SaaS hype. Stop blindly following successful entrepreneurs. Know that for every successful startup, there are 1,000 that didn’t make it. Instead, keep your head down, focus on your business needs, and work accordingly. Don’t quit or give up.“It's the founders who don’t quit who make successful products”.

Janna Bastow, CEO of ProdPad, shares her bootstrapping strategies, product market fit insights, revenue ramping tips, and innovative product pricing decisions. She emphasizes the importance of engaging with customers, transitioning from a product manager to a SaaS founder, and building a strong personal brand in product management.